...Democracy in the United Kingdom has changed a lot over the years however the definition has never changed. The right for people to choose and decide how a country is run. This essay will help decide whether the United Kingdom still follows that definition of being a true democracy and analysing how this has affected the people of the UK. The first thing to look at is the various types of democracy used in the UK. There are many examples of the various types of democracies with the first being direct democracy. A recent example of what a direct democracy can do is the Scottish Referendum taking place throughout Scotland. This allows the people of Scotland to take the decision of independence in to their own hands. This is a great example of how a democracy should work with millions of peoples voices being heard to make a decision that affects them all. While being one of the most direct ways to involve people it is also one of more timely efforts with the voting taking a long while before being put into effect. This can be seen with the Scottish Referendum taking two years to fully set up and then another year and a half before the final decision being implemented. The other type of democracy is the representative democracy which is what is used mainly in the United Kingdom. In this case citizens will vote for a representative of their constituency who will then represent their views in Parliament. The system used for these elections is known as the First Past The Post system...
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...How democratic is the UK political system? In the UK we have a political system which is, essentially, democratic. As there are some 63 million people living in the UK, complete democracy – whereby the public decide on everything – would be impossible, as there would need to be constant referendums. Representative democracy means that elected politicians represent each constituency in the country; this aims to be a democratic system where each politician acts in the interests of their constituents. However, this system could be undemocratic as each MP belongs to a specific party, and therefore could vote on behalf of their party rather than with the opinions of the constituents. Although Britain is a democracy, some people and institutions which have power have not been elected by the people. This could be seen as undemocratic. An example of this is the House of Lords; the members are unelected, yet still hold power as bills cannot be passed without being considered by both Houses. The House of Commons could be viewed as more democratic than the Lords, as all MPs are elected, for example Ian Lucas was elected as the MP for Wrexham. The UK has a ‘first past the post’ electoral system. Many seen this as undemocratic as it allows a political party to gain seats in parliament even if another party had thousands more votes. An example is the Green party, who gained a seat in parliament with around 300,000 votes in the last election. UKIP had over three times this amount of...
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...Britain has a ‘Democratic Deficit’, Discuss. To first answer this question, you must first define what a democratic deficit actually is. A democratic deficit is when it is believed that there is a lack of democratic accountability for the decisions made within a government for a specific country. To say we have a democratic deficit in the UK seems absurd to most people. Our head of Parliament is an elected body and so are the entire occupants of the House of Commons so how can we say that we have a democratic deficit? Well, the House of Lords is a completely unelected body of government which does take part in some of the decision making in the UK and all of our laws have to be signed off and agreed to by the Queen another unelected party which is a major part of our political system. We also have numerous elections over the course of a year such as the elections for local government which make changes in a local area rather than in an entire country. Similarly, we have the elections for the European Parliament which has the power to produce laws which affect the whole of Europe so even if a country doesn’t agree or like the law, it can be implemented anyway. So, as you can see, it is possible to argue that this country does in fact suffer from a democratic deficit. The House of Lords is one of the biggest things used when arguing that this country suffers from a democratic deficit. Most members of the House of Lords are chosen by the monarchy, normally through the advice of...
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...A democratic deficit occurs when government doesn’t provide the values of democracy or when political representatives are shamed in the eyes of the public. In the UK there has been debate that Britain’s democracy is flawed. The voting system is unfair and recent expenses scandal exposed just how many politicians do not respect the position they are given. One of the main factors to argue there is a democratic deficit in the UK is the low levels of voter turnout and widespread discouragement with the FPTP system. In 2001 the UK received a general election turnout of 59.4%, the lowest since the start of universal suffrage in 1918. Low turnouts in elections will weaken the electoral mandate of the party and the legitimacy of the government, and if citizens are not participating in politics the decisions made by government are no longer in the interest of the whole nation. For instance the 2011 AV referendum got a turnout of just 42.2% so it would not accurate to base this result on a decision that will affect the whole country, when fewer than half of the population voted. Some suggest that the elections in the UK are not fair due to the “First Past the Post” voting system. The FPTP system favours two parties (the Labour and Conservative party) and this means that there is a reduced chance of smaller parties winning constituencies. In the 2010 general election the Labour party got 29% of the vote and gained 258 seats, whereas the Liberal Democrats won 23% of the votes but secured...
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...How democratic is the UK? The term democracy implies that the government in the UK is elected by the people for the people; this statement is true to an extent. However it is difficult to administer as most modern democracies are representative, where the public chooses who they wish to possess power to devise policies that will benefit them. Our electoral system in the UK is currently ‘First Past the Post’, where every person over 18 unless they’re in prison has the right to a single vote. ‘First Past the Post’ is an element of the UK democracy that can be seen as both democratic and undemocratic. It’s democratic because the system has survived the test of time and been relatively unchallenged, but when it has, ‘First Past the Post’ has won i.e. in the Referendum of May 5th 2011. Even if the majority win the minority can still run and succeed in the next election regardless of who won the last election. ‘First Past the Post’ can be undemocratic as if only around 60% of people vote how can the government say they represent the people when 40% of the people who can vote didn’t, this is how ‘First Past the Post’ can be seen as unfair. The system makes it very difficult for smaller parties to get elected because the three main parties dominate the elections these are Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats. For a party like the UKIP to get elected would be impossible as even though they had 3,881,099 votes they only got one seat but then the SNP had 1,454,436 had got...
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...To what extent have constitutional reforms introduced since 1997 made the UK more democratic? Since 1997 the UK has seen many constitutional reforms; it is argued about whether or not they have made the UK more democratic, this easy will be going through a few of these reforms and explain how they have effected the UK. The word democracy means a system of government in which all the people are involved in making decisions that effect the country/state, it can further be defined as a government for the people, by the people, of the people, the people of the state can have their say through electoral votes, referendums lobbying or protests. Democracy has many aspects such as decentralisation, accountability, participation, open government and rights protection; decentralisation means the process of distributing or dispersing power away from the central government, an example of this can be seen in the Devolution Act of 1997. Accountability is the act of the government being liable for everything they do; this relates back to the rule of law which states that anybody can be taken to court if they have broken the law including the law makers themselves. Holding the government accountable means that anybody of the public can take the government to court if they have broken the law or if someone feels like an Act has been broken. Open government definitely helps democracy as it means that citizens have the right to access documents and proceedings of the government to allow for...
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...“How can UK democracy be enhanced?” Democracy is a political system where decisions are made in the interests of the people by decision-makers who are elected, accountable and can be got rid of peacefully. There 2 types of democracy: direct and representative ones. In the UK there is a direct democracy which gives every citizen the right to participate, the opportunity to express their views, thoughts and where voters determine specific policy outcomes. There is a constant debate whether the UK is a truly democratic country or not and to what extent. It is believed that nowadays Britain has a massive issues: the electoral system is totally unfair, there are unelected political members and the lack of parties, Civil Rights are in danger, citizens no longer have a wish to participate in elections, the media is prejudged and, finally, the UK is not representative. This essay will evaluate how to make the Great Britain more democratized. The major point is that there is a low rate of political participation in the UK that might lead to an arbitrary and autocratic government. It is significant element because it makes the government more accountable. There are some ways which can prevent this undemocratic style. Firstly, the UK government can introduce the compulsory voting which is nowadays enhanced in Australia. This method would force citizens to affect the outcomes of elections and make them more politically aware of issues. The second way is to increase the use of referendums...
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...Freedom of Expression in UK Jan 15, 2014 Student Name: Question: Freedom of expression should be guaranteed in UK? Introduction Several countries oversee media in distant ways. The reason behind is to interpret the laws and regulations or principles of Human Rights as per Universal Declaration in divergent manner. The constitutional principles regarding Human Rights might include freedom of media, freedom of expression, freedom of thoughts and freedom of opinion. However, no particular universal definition is there for “Freedom of Expression.” All the events and current happenings play as a beginning point for government rules and regulations for freedom of expression in distinct contexts and peculiar political contexts. Mostly people agree upon that in a democratic society freedom of speech or freedom of expression is essential. The broadcast media, the press media and opponents of political parties must have the freedom of speech to over those who so ever are in power. This is the way to take individuals opinion about their leader’s accountable and express as a free citizen whatever they feel. So it does not make any difference how vulgar, indecent/coarse specific kind of expression it might be, an individual has got the right to express it and those who got to know this have the right to react on it. In order to cite the freedom of speech’s and expression’s role in a democratic society, this is necessary to pageant the demands of democratic society that is addressed...
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...The United Kingdom’s constitution does not provide sufficient protection for the right to protest in the streets The UK has an unwritten constitution and consists of statutes which are laws passed by Parliament. It also consists of conventions which are unwritten practices which have developed over time and common law which is developed by the courts and judges through cases. This makes the law easily amendable and flexible to changes for example the introduction of codified rights of individuals in the Human Rights Act 1998. The UK is a democracy therefore people have the right to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly, as stated in Article 10 and 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights. The exercise of these rights is necessary in a democratic society as it is in the interest of public authorities, public safety and the protection of the rights and freedom of others. The right to peacefully protest holds great importance as it demonstrates an individual’s freedom to express. However it is crucial that there is a balance between the Convention rights and the power of police to intervene. This essay will firstly address how the European Convention interacts with UK law, secondly it will discuss the rights of public authorities to intervene and lastly conclude whether the UK’s constitution provides sufficient protection for the right to protest in the streets. The ECHR was signed in 1950 in response to the injustices of WW2, the basic idea of these...
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...thing', democracy has come to used as little more than a 'hurrah! word', implying approval of a particular set of ideas or system of rule. Perhaps a more helpful starting point from which to consider the nature of democracy is provided by Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, delivered in 1864 at the height of the American Civil War. Lincoln extolled the virtues of what he called 'government of the people, by the people, and for the people'. What this makes clear is that democracy serves to link government to the people, but that this link can be forged in a number of ways - government of, by and for the people. Nevertheless, the precise nature of democratic rule has been the subject of fierce ideological and political debate. The next section will look at alternative models of democracy. For the time being, however, the terms of the democratic debate are explored. This boils down to the attempt to answer two central questions: ▪ Who are the people? ▪ In what sense should the people rule? Who are the people? One of the core features of democracy is the principle of political equality, the notion that political power should be distributed as widely and evenly as possible....
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...between UK and the EU and this dissatisfaction was undeniable and irrevocable as it came from multiple parties. Therefor there had been calls for a referendum to be held about participating in the EU or not, which led to the necessity of the speech, given to attain focus on UK’s future and what they would have to do to achieve the visions of the 21st century. It was also necessary to mention to the people that he has visions for the UK as well as Europe and also address the important choice the people has in front of them as it would be put in their hands to decide whether they should continue the cooperation with the EU or not. When a country is in despair it has been proven at several occasions how powerful a motivating and collected speech can be and with the uncertainty of UK’s position in the EU as it is now as well in the future, David Cameron’s was much needed to assert that they will take action and the outcome will be profitable for UK as a whole. The speech consists of 5 main parts where the first one revolves around the past to identify the previous goals of the EU, such as securing peace, which have been reached. To claim that these goals have been reached naturally leads to the purpose of the speech which is to determine new goals and a new role for the UK to play to have the future that they wish for. The second part is about the changes that the EU must make to deliver prosperity and retain the support of its peoples which is most requisite in order for UK to keep...
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...so this brings up the arguments of whether update the system or not The initial argument for the change is it was remove the transparency of rules and laws, the key constitutional are collected into a single document all clearly stated with great difficulty of alteration. This portrays exactly what the beliefs of Parliament are and restricts law breaking. Not only does this deter people from committing offences but also makes it simple to enforce as every charge wish be on the same wavelength. An argument to contradict this however would be that's not every crime committed is the same so the variation in the punishment given would also have to vary and with the defining of the law there is actually potential for it to become less democratic. Along with this as times are forever changing and technology is being updated, the demand for laws to be amended is crucial as without it people could technically exploit the system ‘legally’. Another bonus of a codified Constitution is the fact that it is authoritative meaning it is a higher-level and so it lines all political institutions including those that make ordinary law, such as the two chambers. The provisions of the constitution are also said to be entrenched meaning that they are difficult to amend or abolish. As a codified constitution sets out the duties, powers and functions of government institutions in terms of ‘higher law’ it is judiciable. However there is the issue that when agreeing upon the...
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...How strong is the case for increasing the use of referendums in the UK? A referendum is a vote put to the public by a ballot by the government. Given as a simple “yes/no” question, they are on a single issue in the country or something the government needs the public’s opinion on. The UK rarely uses referendums, with only 2 put to the UK and 9 otherwise. Here I will discuss whether or not their use should be increased. Referendums can help to decide on issues like education, healthcare, social issues and more for example in Switzerland where they are used to decide on social issues like abortion and gay marriage. However, in most cases, the action/ outcome would have already been decided by the government in control, using the referendum as a way to legitimise what they want. Due to this issue, they can be used to legitimise clearly non-democratic laws, for example Hitler used them to pass what he wanted to happen. Referendums also gain the public’s view on what the government wants- whether they want it or not- yet this makes tyranny of the majority as minorities don’t get expressed and only certain areas are get to vote. The question would have been carefully manicured in favour of the best outcome for the government, as people can only answer yes or no- no justification or adding more even if neither appeals. A tool for modern democracy, outside of the UK they solve a wide range of issues and work well. The voter has a direct choice and say in what the government do, for...
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...part of legislative process, whereas Select Committee is part of scrutiny process. In the former committee, the bill is examined by line by line to ensure that its wording and language is clear to allow any amendments on the bill. In the latter committee, there are two departments – governmental and non-governmental. They examine government departments’ expeditures , policies and policies. There are between 16 to 50 members in the PBC who are selected by Committee of Selection whose 7 out 9 members are ships. On the other hand, there are 11 members in the SCs and to eliminate “the conflict of interest, all the members are backbench members who are elected using the Alternative vote system. 2a What are the main functions of Parliament and how well does it perform them? [5] < This question is a 20-mark question > 3a What are the differences between direct and representative democracy? [5] In direct democracy, people are directly involved in decision-making processes, whereas in representative democracy, people elect MPs who will represent and form a government in Parliament. For instance, some qualified members of Athenian society were involved in decision-making and a referendum is a limited form of direct democracy. Also general elections are kind of parliamentary democracy, they are held every five years to election a representative and a government. There is potential danger that decision-making mechanisms can be affected by an organised faction and demagogue in...
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...BBC hits back at criticism of TV coverage’’ published on The Daily Mirror website on July 24th, 2013 hit back on criticism of the royal media coverage, by referring to facts about how many people who are actually watching the TV coverage. People who do not want to hear about the royals all the time is a minority as the coverage of the event had more than 10.8 million viewers from the UK. Text 3, ’’The monarchy is at odds with a modern Britain’’ published on The Observer website on July 27th in 2013 discussing whether the monarchy is a good or a bad thing for the modern Britain. The monarchy is old-fashioned and traditional and does properly not fit into a modern society. The population of the UK consists of so many different people with different skin-colors and cultural background and is therefore a big contrast to the monarchy. 2. What are the arguments? Traditions came with Edward VII and George VI. The rituals were invented in Victorian times back in the 1600-century. It draws tourists. Tourists will visit whether or not we have a sovereign. The monarchy is the brick wall that stops that healthy process. In the 21st century. Text 3 is filled with exaggeration and irony, for example: “even as the Middle East and African tear themselves apart in the bloody battle to assert democratic rights”. This piece is very ironic, since there will be told that...
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